The Twelve Fic's of Christmas
by ShadowVixxen
Summary: This is a set of twelve pieces inspired by the ever approaching Christmas holiday. Each one will feature some kind of tradition or Christmas-type theme that is different from the last. Some characters may be repeated but the themes will always be different. Merry Christmas!
1. Pictures With Santa -Naruto-

"Where are you guys taking me?" The silver-haired teenager narrows her blindfolded eyes as her friends lead her from the cold into a warmer building that's heavily populated judging by the noise level. Getting no answer, Mayuri just continues to go along with whatever the hell they're planning until, _finally_, they stop her.

"We're here," Arianna says in a sing-song voice as someone unties the blindfold. Blinking, Mayuri's daffodil colored eyes focus on the brightly colored sign in front of her. Then she turns to her friends with a highly exasperated look.

"You dragged me away from video games for pictures with Santa? Are you kidding me?"

"Come on Mayu it'll be fun!" Lee holds out a thumbs up and winks when Mayu rolls her eyes.

"Besides, you never know who you might see at stuff like this." Sasuke looks off to the side in his usual aloof manner and Sakura is nearly drooling at his feet.

"I'm not doing this." Mayu turns to head towards the gaming store inside the mall but Ari blocks her path.

"Oh yes you are." Ari turns her friend and winks over her shoulder to the rest of the group as she forces Mayuri to stand in line with the other little kids. Ari, trying desperately to hide her delight at her plan, licks Mayuri's cheek, which causes the other girl to laugh. "Come on Mayu. I'll be right here with you the whole time and you told me once that you've never had pictures with Santa. This could be a lot of fun."

"I told you that when I was six." Mayuri rolls her eyes but smiles, secretly a little excited. "You've never made me go before."

"I just figured this year was as good a year as any." Ari smiles as it finally becomes Mayu's turn to sit on Santa's lap. The mall has emptied slightly and it seems that Mayuri is the last person of the night to see Santa. Perfect. "Now go smile pretty on Santa's lap and I will buy you a picture okay?"

Mayu makes a face and, without paying attention, walks over and basically drops onto Santa's lap. She folds her arms as a light blush paints her cheeks. Now that she's actually sitting here she realizes how childish this really looks.

"Come on Mayu! Tell him what you want for Christmas!" Ino yells from the other side of the sectioned off area. The whole group is really making a lot of noise which only embarrasses Mayuri more.

"What would you like for Christmas little girl?" Santa asks her in a faked deep voice.

"A Barbie," she replies sarcastically. Then, after a moment, she softens a little, having given some thought to what she wanted. "Actually, can I change it?"

"Sure. What do you want for Christmas?" Santa's blue eyes sparkle and Mayuri finds them awfully familiar but brushes it off.

"Well there's this boy…" Mayuri toys with her fingers as she smiles. "His name is Naruto and for Christmas do you think you could get me a kiss? That's really all I want."

"Just a kiss?"

"Yeah. Just a kiss."

"Well sure, I'll let him know." Santa smiles through his beard and motions to the camera-elf who clearly wants to go home.

"Say "Merry Christmas" and smile." The elf holds up a little bird thing as he gets ready to take the picture. Mayuri slides on a smile as Santa wraps his arms around her. She turns her head, to tell him to let go, when he pulls down the beard and reveals his face. Naruto grins at her and, before Mayuri has a chance to get over her shock, kisses her just as the camera flashes. When it's over, Naruto pulls back and smiles at the profusely blushing girl on his lap.

"Merry Christmas Mayu."


	2. Christmas Shopping -Minato-

"This one is an infusion of lilac and ginger." The over-eager sales-girl sprays what has to be the twentieth perfume Minato has shown the slightest interest in onto a piece of paper and shoves it under his nose.

He sniffs the damp paper and, though he likes the scent, it doesn't seem right to him. He pushes the girls hand away and smiles at her. "Sorry. That's not the right one either. I need something with a little more spice to it."

"We've tried nearly every sweetly-spicey perfume in the store." She seems exhausted, and Minato can't really blame her. He wasn't exactly being descriptive with what he wanted. Kushina was unlike any girl he'd ever met, sweet but sassy with a temper like hellfire. He wanted a scent that matched her. But it seemed that he might have to give up on his idea and move on to something else. He hates shopping more than anything but it's Christmas and he wanted to get the _perfect_ gift. Something she'd use every day that reminded her of him.

He turns to leave the store, about to apologize to the girl for being so non-forthcoming and unhelpful, when a rose red bottle in the corner catches his eye. He walks over to it and picks it up, looking it over with interest. It's a cylindrical little bottle, small enough to fit in an average sized purse, with no markings other than a creamy white flower etched into the side.

The sales-girl walks over and furrows her brow. "I haven't seen that bottle before. I wonder what it is." She picks up a card that Minato missed from under the bottle and reads it. Then, a smile spreads across her face as she takes the bottle from him. "I think this is exactly what you're looking for."

She sprays the paper and holds it out to the blonde, who takes it and holds it to his nose. He's hit by a strong scent of cinnamon which would be overpowering if it weren't for the gentle sweetness of vanilla behind it. Unable to place the smell but knowing deep down it's exactly what he's looking for, he flips the card over and reads the name of the perfume.

"Christmas Wishes."


	3. Trimming The Tree -Itachi-

The dark haired male looks up from his book as his newly moved-in girlfriend bursts through the front door of their apartment brandishing something green as boxes tumble out of her arms and onto the floor.

"Itachi look!" She brings the small tree inside and quickly closes the door, blowing her breath on her hands to warm them. "I got us a Christmas Tree!"

Itachi looks over his shoulder and wrinkles his nose as the scent of fresh pine hits him. He doesn't know what she's so excited about. It's just a tree. After peeling off her outer layers, the bubbly brunette drags her tree into the living room and sets it up in it's base thing right in front of the window. She stands back from her handiwork and smiles over at him. "It's so perfect, couldn't you just die?"

"Sure, if the scent of pine doesn't kill me first." Itachi opens his book again as she narrows her eyes at him. He glances up to meet her dark gaze. "…What?"

"Stop being such a Scrooge. Christmas is wonderful and trimming the tree is the best part. Now put that book down and help me." She heads back into the entry way, gathers up her boxes, and drops them in Itachi's lap, making it impossible for him to continue reading. He sighs. "Hikari, you know how I feel about holidays."

"Yeah well Christmas is different." She grabs a box from the pile and opens it to reveal brightly colored bulbs of glass. She lifts one out and smiles at it gently. "So you used to spend all your holidays with your brother who hates you and your dead parents. At least you got to experience Christmas with people who loved you. Now, if you won't help me decorate then at least be useful and find the box of hooks in there somewhere so I can hang these up."

Itachi sighs again and digs through the boxes of variously colored bulbs until he finds what Hikari is looking for. Then he watches as she "trims the tree" as she called it. True, he experienced Christmas well as a child, but rarely was he reminded that Hikari never had a family. She was an orphan who raised herself on the streets and rarely saw any kindness from anyone. Itachi was always amazed by her positive and happy disposition to the world.

He watches her, handing her more hooks and ornaments as she asks for them and just listens to her talk about why Christmas is so wonderful. She lights up when she talks about it, just like anything else she's passionate about, and Itachi finds himself becoming partial to the holiday again. She has that way with him.

"There. Just one thing left and we're all done." Hikari stands back from the lit and decorated tree and smiles proudly.

"There's still more?" Itachi makes a face and Hikari just laughs.

"Well yeah silly, we have to put the star on top." Hikari retreats into the bedroom and returns with a shoebox Itachi has never seen before. She must have been hiding it under the bed. Hikari sits next to Itachi on the couch and opens the box to reveal a gold and silver star tree topper Itachi recognizes from his childhood.

"Where'd you get this…?" Itachi takes the star out of the box and looks it over. He hasn't seen this in years. He thought it was burned up along with everything else in the fire that killed his parents.

"Sasuke gave it to me." Hikari smiles at him and meets his gaze. "I'm too short to reach the top. You want to do the honors?"

Itachi stands and heads over to the tree, glancing down at the star in his hand, he reaches up and easily places the star atop the tree. Hikari wraps herself around his side and smiles up at him, his arm coming down and resting on the small of her back. She smiles up at him. "What do you think?"

Itachi breaks his gaze from the star and smiles a little at the Christmas angel in his arms. "It's perfect."


End file.
